


The Smaller, The Cuter

by TheObscureFluffs (TearsAndFlowers)



Category: Sonic Boom (Cartoon)
Genre: Cute, Fluff, G/T, Giant/Tiny, M/M, Romance, Shrinking, Size Difference
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-14
Updated: 2016-03-17
Packaged: 2018-04-20 20:01:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 15,046
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4800434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TearsAndFlowers/pseuds/TheObscureFluffs
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After one of their daily battles with Eggman, Sonic runs into a...tiny problem. And Knuckles is the only one available to look after him until a cure is found. Will Sonic ever be returned to normal? And could this situation possibly bring the two friends closer together? Read to find out!</p><p>(Note: Very fluffy Boom!Sonknux fic)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

It was another fight at Eggman's lair for Team Sonic. As usual, the gang was fending off many Eggman robots; maybe if they trashed all of them, they'd have a break for a couple days.

"Hey, Knux!" Sonic exclaimed. "Let's try out that new Spindash Throw technique we've been working on!"  
He curled up into a ball, then bounced up into Knuckles' hands, revving and ready.

Knuckles didn't hesitate; he knew the routine by now. He began to spin around in circles, faster and faster, until finally, he let go of Sonic, launching him towards the nearest group of robots.

Sonic ricocheted off many robots, knocking them down and plowing through nearly all of them. Once he landed and uncurled, he grinned and gave a thumbs-up to Knuckles.  
"Nice, bud!"

However, he noticed two speedy robots fleeing the scene, one of them seeming to be carrying something. Sonic suspected a trap, but he wasn't scared; what could Eggman have that could possibly take him down?

"Guys, finish up here! I'm goin' after those two bots!" he told everyone, immediately chasing the bots down the hall.

Knuckles didn't try to follow Sonic; he knew that would be impossible anyway. Besides, he knew Sonic could handle himself against those bots. So he continued fighting like before, waiting for his friend's return.

\--

Sonic continued running after the robots, but not too fast as he figured he'd humor them a little first.

The two led him into the main room, turning to Sonic. The item one was holding seemed to be a device of some sort.

Sonic smirked confidently. "What, you bolt-brains gotta take that to Eggy? Hope y'don't mind if it's in pieces!"

He spindash'd towards the machine, only to receive an incredibly unpleasant shock to his system as he hit the small device. He was knocked back a few feet, tumbling to the ground and groaning. It felt like his energy had just left him all of a sudden.

Staggering to a stand, he quickly understood why. The robots who were once smaller than him now towered over him. He looked around the room to confirm, and everything else had seemed to have grown too; he was probably around five inches tall.

_I...I shrunk!? Seriously?_

His heart was racing, but he knew he wouldn't have time to worry. The robots began to chase him, and he dashed across the room to evade them. He felt lucky that he was still fast even though he was much smaller now.

The light blue trail he left behind was confusing the robots with all the spirals he was going in, and before long, he managed to hide behind the leg of a couch, sitting down and frowning a bit.

_This is bad. I can't hide out here forever!_

While not fond of asking for help, he really wished he'd brought someone along with him at this point. No way was he moving from that spot; Eggman or those bots might find him!

\--

Meanwhile, Knuckles was growing worried.

_Sonic should've been back by now... I hope nothing happened to him!_

"I'm gonna go see if Sonic needs any help!" Knuckles told the others.

Then, before anyone could respond, he was running off in the direction that Sonic had gone.

\--

Sonic heard footsteps from the hallway, growing slightly nervous. What if it was Eggman, come to check if his little shrinking device worked?

However, relief filled his chest as he saw Knuckles walking in. He stood up, but found himself slightly stiff. It was just Knuckles, but...

_Augh, he's probably gonna tease me about it 'cause I went in here all willy-nilly..._

He blushed slightly in embarrassment, but he knew that Knuckles knowing was at least a better option than being stuck here.

_...S-still though..._

He peeked out at the echidna, noticing that the robots were still in the room. Oh no, if Knuckles tried to punch that device...

Without thinking, he ran out frantically. "K-Knuckles, be careful!"

Knuckles turned towards the direction of Sonic's voice, becoming confused. "Huh? Sonic? Where'd you go?"

Sonic put a hand to his face, his blush increasing. Still, he had to warn Knuckles; he'd feel awful if his friend got shrunk too.

"Bud, down here!" he shouted, waving. He ran about in a few circles to make his presence known.

Knuckles looked down, his eyes going wide. "W-whoa, what happened to you?!"

Sonic pointed to the robots. "That machine over there; I attacked it and it zapped me! Before I knew it, I was like this!" he explained. "You gotta get it off of them without hitting it!"

Knuckles nodded. "Got it!"  
He turned to face the robots, trying to think of how to get the machine away from them.

Sonic looked back at the robots. "Hm. Ahh, hey, robots!" he called out, trying to get their attention. They turned to him, and Sonic dashed along the floor.  
"I'll distract 'em! Go for it!"

As the robots began to chase Sonic, Knuckles waited for just the right moment, then snuck up behind the bots and quickly snatched up the machine from them (being careful not to break it of course).

Sonic smirked. "Nice, Knux! Now pound 'em!"

He felt a little helpless on the sidelines, but Knuckles could handle himself, so he wasn't worried.

Knuckles held the machine securely in one hand; with the other hand, he swung his fist down onto one of the robots, smashing it instantly. He proceeded to do the same to the other bot before it could react. In almost no time they were both scrap metal.

Sonic gave him a thumb's up, despite his still fast-beating heart. He could at least _pretend_ to act cool like this. "That'll teach 'em to mess with me!"

"So, uh... what do we do now?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic frowned at this, looking over himself. "I...I don't know..." he admitted, his fake happiness from before fading away. "I didn't even know this kinda thing was possible..."

Knuckles thought for a moment. "Maybe Tails'll know what to do!" he suggested.

"Maybe..."  
Sonic wasn't fond of the idea, but the idea of staying this way forever was even less favorable.

"...H-hey, uh..." He looked up at the echidna, slightly sheepish. "Can you get me off the ground or something? It's kinda hard to talk to you from all the way down here..."

"Oh, sure."  
Knuckles carefully bent down and held out his free hand, palm side up.  
"Climb on," he said, smiling softly.

Sonic blushed, but nodded. He walked forward, then crawled onto Knuckles' hand. It was... actually kinda nice.  
_His hand's pretty warm..._

Knuckles slowly stood back up, making sure that Sonic didn't fall off of his hand. "Should we get going, then?"

"Y-yeah," Sonic replied.  
"...Do we have to?" he asked with a weak chuckle.

Knuckles gave him a confused look. "Don't you want to get changed back?"

"W-well, yeah, but--!" Sonic stammered shyly, letting out a cute whimper. Knuckles was right, as much as he didn't want to admit it; he didn't have much of a choice.

"Is something wrong?" Knuckles asked, wondering why Sonic was so hesitant.

"N-nothin', just..." Sonic smiled slightly. "You're not gonna tease me or something?"

"Huh? Why would I tease you?" Knuckles asked in surprise.

"W-well... I mean... look at me," Sonic said. "I fit on your hand! I figured you'd be laughin' by now."

"I...I guess I was just too busy worrying about you," Knuckles admitted, blushing sheepishly.

_Aw, he_ does _fit in my hand,_ the echidna thought. _That's actually kinda cute..._

Sonic blushed at that. _He's really worried about me?_  
He smiled a bit, feeling a little more at ease at the idea of meeting back up with the rest of his friends.

"Ready to go now?" Knuckles asked.

"Y-yeah. I am," Sonic replied, sounding a bit more confident.

Knuckles smiled. He headed back towards where the others were waiting, being extra careful not to drop Sonic or the machine that had caused this.

"Hey, uh, guys..." Knuckles said as he walked into the room. "We've got a little problem--pun not intended," he added, chuckling sheepishly.

"Wha?" Tails questioned.

As soon as the three caught sight of Sonic, the blue hedgehog was instantly surrounded. It was a little intimidating to be surrounded by his perspectively giant friends, but he tried not to think about it.

\--

After the situation was explained, Tails quickly decided that it was best to return to his lab. Once there, he ran a few small tests, just to make sure Sonic's body was functioning properly. Sonic's friends all were fearing for his fate, but tried to remain positive for his sake; he was having the worst time out of all of them, after all.

"Hey, uh, Knuckles?" Tails called. "Can you come here for a second? I need to talk to you."

"Uh...okay."

Knuckles went over to where Tails was. "Everything okay?" he asked, concerned.

"In a manner of speaking," Tails replied. "It'll take a while to see if I can cure Sonic's, um... 'condition'," he said. "I know he'll say that he doesn't need it, but I want you to take care of him until then."

Knuckles nodded. "You can count on me!"

To be honest, while he was worried about Sonic's current state, he was also secretly excited that he'd get to spend some extra time with the hedgehog for a little while.

"Good!" Tails exclaimed. "You're the only one who can do it!" He was admittedly a bit worried, but Knuckles could be gentle when he had to be, so Sonic would be in safe hands; quite literally, in fact.

He brought Knuckles back to Sonic, who looked at them with a confused gaze.

"...What's that look for?"

Tails smiled sheepishly. "Well, while I try to figure out how to cure you, I thought it'd be a good idea for you to..." He cleared his throat, "hang out with Knuckles?"

Sonic gave him a small glare, as if catching onto his words. However, one glance at Knuckles seemed to calm his expression.  
"...Sure. Company's always good, I guess."

Tails was shocked at Sonic's quick approval, but chose not to question it and left the two alone.

"So, um...what should we do?" Knuckles asked.

"Uhh... head back to my shack, maybe?" Sonic suggested, shrugging. "Though I guess we can't really do much together..."

"Hmmm..." Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought. "There's gotta be something..."

"We could try playing some video games." Sonic chuckled, imagining how huge the controller would be to him now. "I bet I can still beat you!"

Knuckles grinned. "Hehe, well, let's give it a try, shall we?"

He carefully scooped up Sonic in his huge hands, and he headed for the shack. He was very gentle with the hedgehog for the whole walk, handling him as if he were the most delicate thing in the world.

Sonic was definitely not used to being carried around, but that didn't mean he didn't enjoy it. Knuckles was gentle, much to his surprise, and he enjoyed the delicate warmth.

\--

Pretty soon, they arrived at Sonic's shack. Knuckles looked around for a safe place to set Sonic down, then went to get everything set up for their game session.

Sonic watched Knuckles closely, unable to help giggling a bit. It was a little amusing to him; all Knuckles was doing was setting up the game system, but he had a completely different view on it now.

Once Knuckles had everything set up, he went back to Sonic and picked him up. He carried him over to the TV, then set him down next to one of the game controllers. However, he quickly realized that Sonic would have trouble seeing the screen this way.

"Uh...how are we gonna do this exactly?" he asked, stumped on what to do.

Sonic frowned. "U-uh..."

He thought for a moment, then snapped his fingers. He picked up his controller and held it over his head with a bit of effort. "Can I sit on your shoulder?" he asked.

Knuckles nodded. He picked up Sonic again and let him climb onto his shoulder.

"Just be careful not to fall off!" he warned.

Sonic grinned. "Yeah yeah, safety smafety. Let's just play!"

He had to admit; even though he mocked the danger, he felt very safe on Knuckles' shoulder.

Knuckles started up the game. He wondered how Sonic would manage with the game controller, but he figured the hedgehog would find a way.

And Sonic did. He struggled a little, but he was still pretty quick with button presses, despite having to use one hand for each. Still, he lost a few more games than usual.

Knuckles was impressed, though. Sonic was doing surprisingly well despite his now small size.

_I knew you could do it! he thought with a smile._

Sonic was starting to get determined, rapidly pressing buttons as much as his body would let him.

...Uuuuntil he accidentally slid the controller of Knuckles' shoulder. "A-ah--"

Knuckles turned his head and saw what had happened. Carefully, he reached over and grabbed Sonic's controller, handing it back to him.

"There ya go," he said with a smile.

Sonic blushed. Gosh, this was embarrassing.

"H-hehe, thanks, Knux!" he exclaimed, taking his controller back as best as he could. "Uhh... it's okay that I'm on your shoulder, right?"

Knuckles gave him a confused look. "Of course! Why wouldn't it be?"

"Just, erm..." He stared back at the echidna. "We don't really get 'close' too often, y'know?"

"I guess we don't, heh..."  
Truth be told, Knuckles didn't mind one bit. If anything, it was actually really nice...

"Anyway, uh..." Sonic scratched his stomach a little, looking uncomfortable. "What are we gonna do about dinner?"

"Oh, um..." Knuckles hadn't even thought about that. "Hmmm..."

"I guess going out ain't a option," Sonic said with a blush. "If the village saw me like this..."

"Yeah..." Knuckles understood what he meant. "That would be awkward."

"I'd never hear the end of it, yeah," Sonic told him with a weak chuckle.

"What should we do, then?" Knuckles asked, stumped.

Sonic shrugged. "I mean, I've got some fruit in the little thing there," he said, pointing to a little cooler-like box on the other side of the room. "Er... big thing."

Knuckles nodded. He stood up, slowly, so that Sonic wouldn't fall, and went over where the hedgehog had been pointing. He picked up the box and carried it back to where they'd been sitting before. He carefully sat down, then opened the container.

"Here ya go." He took out a small piece of fruit and handed it to Sonic.

"Thanks!"  
Sonic took the little fruit and started nibbling at it; stupid adorable hedgehog...

Knuckles started eating too, although he couldn't help sneaking a glance at Sonic every now and then. He had to admit, Sonic did look really adorable right now. Not that he wasn't already cute before, of course...

If Sonic noticed Knuckles' glances, he didn't show any signs of it, continuing to eat at the fruit.

"Ehehe, never thought I could be full just from eating one berry," he said with a chuckle.

"Anything else you need?" Knuckles asked, just to make sure.

"A drink maybe?" Sonic suggested.

Knuckles nodded, putting a hand to his chin in thought. _Do they even make cups that small?_ he wondered.

"I've got a water bottle and some cups, but ah..." He laughed weakly. "How could I make that work?"

"Hmmm..." An idea popped into Knuckles' head.

He saw the water bottle that Sonic had mentioned on the other side of the room. He stood up again and went over to it. He opened it, then carefully tipped the bottle over slightly, letting a bit of water drip into the bottle cap until it was almost full.

"Does this work?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic grinned. "Yeah, awesome!"

He grabbed the bottle cap and took a sip, then smirked at Knuckles. "And you always talk about how dumb you are!"

Knuckles blushed a little. "Y-you don't think I'm dumb?"

"'Course not!" Sonic replied, skillfully twirling the bottle cap on his finger. "I didn't come up with this, after all."

Knuckles' cheeks were very pink now. "T-thanks, Sonic," he replied with a smile.  
That meant a lot to him, especially coming from Sonic...

Sonic smiled, then stared down at the now empty bottle cap. "...Hm..."

"What is it? Something wrong?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic shook his head. "Put your hand on the table!" he exclaimed, his grin widening.

"Uh...okay," Knuckles complied, wondering where this was going.

Sonic looked down then jumped up, getting onto the bottle cap and sliding all the way down Knuckles' arm.  
"W-whoa!" he exclaimed, skidding across the table.

Knuckles quickly placed his hand in front of Sonic to make sure he didn't slide off of the table.  
"Nice one!" he chuckled.

Sonic giggled as he bumped into Knuckles again. "Hey, might as well enjoy myself until I get back to normal, right?"

He paused, glancing downwards and frowning. _IF I get back to normal..._

"What's wrong?" Knuckles asked, noticing Sonic's frown.

"Ah, nothin'!" Sonic said, quickly trying to perk back up.

Knuckles wasn't completely convinced. "Ya sure?"

Sonic nodded silently.

"Okay..." Knuckles still wasn't buying it, but he wouldn't force Sonic to talk if he didn't want to.

"So, erm..." Sonic sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "You don't mind all this, right?"

"Why would I?" Knuckles replied. "I like hanging out with you," he added, blushing slightly.

Sonic blushed a bit too. "Y-yeah, I just..." He chuckled. "I dunno. Guess maybe the whole shrinking deal is makin' me think weird."

"Weird how?" Knuckles asked.

"Not important," Sonic assured, hiding his slight blush. "Hey, so... how about we camp outside for the night?" he suggested.

"Outside?" Knuckles was hesitant; he knew that the outdoors could be dangerous, especially for someone who was Sonic's current tiny size. "Ya sure?"

Sonic crossed his arms and pouted. "What's _that_ supposed to mean?"

"I-I just don't want anything bad to happen to you," Knuckles admitted.

Sonic was touched that Knuckles cared for him, but tried not to let it show. "I can still handle myself!" he argued. "...B-besides..."

He gestured a hand to Knuckles and grinned slightly. "If I can't, I've got you, right?"

Knuckles hoped Sonic didn't notice him blushing. "H-hehe, right," he replied with a smile.

"So there won't be a problem!" Sonic said plainly. "We can just lay on a blanket and stare up at the stars or something!"

Knuckles blushed a little more. "T-that sounds nice, actually."

"Cool! Let's go!"

Sonic sped over to one of his blankets, but all the tugging in the world obviously wasn't going to budge it if it was him tugging.

"Here, let me help."

Knuckles picked up Sonic and placed him on his shoulder again, then picked up the blanket and threw it over his other shoulder.  
"Anything else we need?"

"Don't think so, unless y'wanna start a campfire," Sonic joked, amused.

Knuckles nodded, smiling. He headed outside.

"Hmmm, which spot should we pick?"

Sonic looked around. "Over there?" he suggested, pointing to a spot near a large rock; close to the ocean, but not too much.

"Sure!"  
Knuckles headed to where Sonic was pointing. He spread out the blanket on the ground. He gently picked Sonic up off of his shoulder and set him down on the blanket, then carefully lay down next to him.  
"How's this?"

"Heh, not bad," Sonic said. He laid back, glancing up at the stars with his hands behind his head.  
Knuckles did the same.

"One of the nice things about living outside," he said with a grin, "is that I get to see this every night!"

Sonic frowned. "I guess, but that can't be fun in the rain," he argued.

"Yeah..." Knuckles agreed, sighing a little. "But it's nice most of the time."

"Still, don't cha get sick from that?" Sonic asked. "You should get you own place; then I can come over and play games at your house instead, heh."

"Heh, that would be kinda nice," Knuckles replied. "But for now, I get to look at the stars every night while I fall asleep. It's very relaxing..." He yawned, as if to prove his point.

"I guess," Sonic mused. "...But you should sleep over sometime; to see what it's like."

"Hmmm...maybe I will sometime," Knuckles half-mumbled, his eyelids starting to feel heavy.

Sonic's gaze went back to the stars, knowing that he wouldn't get much more out of Knuckles.

Honestly, it wasn't _that_ late, and he was still wide awake, but he wouldn't say that to Knuckles; the guy might feel like he had to stay up for him, and Sonic didn't want that.

"Well, goodnight..." Knuckles murmured sleepily. Before Sonic could respond, he was already off to Dreamland.

"Night," Sonic muttered in reply. It wasn't usual for his thoughts to be crowded, but now was particularly bad, and the distraction of Knuckles' warmth wasn't helping matters in the slightest.

_Ugh, I don't have time to be thinking about this stuff..._

\--

Hours later, after Sonic had finally fallen asleep, morning arrived. He rolled over against the sunlight's rays, hiding into Knuckles' fur to help hide the light from his eyes.

Knuckles' eyes soon fluttered open, and he yawned sleepily. He looked down and saw Sonic all snuggled into his fur, which made him giggle softly.

The blue hedgehog let out a tiny groan, clutching a patch of Knuckles' fur and pulling himself closer, clearly not wanting to wake up yet.

Knuckles smiled at the adorable sight, blushing a little at having Sonic so close to him. He didn't want to wake the tiny hedgehog, so he decided to stay there and relax until his friend woke up on his own.

After a long while - Knuckles wasn't good with time - Sonic began to wake up. He groaned, then looked confusedly ahead, as all he saw was Knuckles' fur. However, he quickly realized the situation and jumped back. "O-oh, Knuckles!"

He blushed, though having a hard time hiding it. "M-mornin'..."

"Good morning!" Knuckles replied with a chuckle. "How'd ya sleep?"

"Uh... pretty well?" Sonic replied with a shrug.

"Ya sure?" Knuckles asked, wondering if something was wrong.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Sonic answered, nodding his head. "Just, uh... didn't mean to cling onto ya like that..."

"Aw, it's okay!" Knuckles assured him. "I-I didn't really mind..." he added, blushing slightly.

Sonic laughed sheepishly. "Really?"

Knuckles nodded, blushing a little more.

"Heh, still; sorry about that," he said.

"Nah, it's fine," Knuckles chuckled. "Don't worry about it."

Sonic smiled weakly. "Anyway, I guess we should get some more fruit for breakfast then?" he asked.

"Sounds good to me!" Knuckles replied.

He picked up Sonic and placed him on his shoulder once more, then headed back into Sonic's shack.

Sonic smirked, leaning back against Knuckles. "Heh, at least I've got my own personal ride like this."

Knuckles grinned. "Welcome to the Knuckles Express! Next stop: breakfast."

"I don't have to pay ya, do I?" Sonic joked.

"Nah, you're a very special passenger," Knuckles replied with a wink.

Sonic blushed, but tried to keep cool. "Good. This is too slow of a ride, anyway!"

"Oh yeah?" Knuckles smirked. "Well how about _this_?"

Suddenly, he took off, running back to the shack as fast as he could.

"W-whoa!"  
Sonic clutched Knuckles' fur at the sudden change of speed. "Yeah, that's more like it!"

Knuckles grinned. He kept running until they'd reached the entrance to the shack.

Sonic grinned back as they reached his shack. "Still wouldn't pay ya anyway. I bet I'm still faster than you!"

"Oh yeah? Well we'll have to test that out!" he replied with a wink. Then his stomach rumbled. "But uh, breakfast first," he chuckled sheepishly.

"You are SO on!" Sonic said with determination. His stomach growled too. "But, uh, yeah. Definitely breakfast first."

After the two finished eating, they went back outside.

"So, we gonna race now?" Knuckles asked.

"You bet we are!"

Sonic landed on the porch and stared up at Knuckles. "Prepare to eat my dust!"

"Not if you eat mine first!" Knuckles replied with a silly grin.

Sonic, encouraged by Knuckles' taunting, starting stretching. His limbs felt a little weaker than usual, but if he could break the speed of sound normally, why would this be a problem?

Knuckles also started stretching. He knew Sonic would probably win--after all, he was the world's fastest runner, normally--but the echidna was still determined to do his very best.

"Ya ready?"

"Ready to win?" Sonic asked. "You bet!"

Knuckles grinned, getting into a starting position.

"Ready...set...go!"

The two then took off across the ground, Sonic's classic blue trail streaming behind him. It probably looked a little silly for such a small hedgehog to be racing such a large echidna, but Sonic tried not to think about it. "Not bad!" he taunted playfully.

"Thank you! But I'm just getting started!" Knuckles grinned. He picked up his pace a bit, trying not to overexert himself, but also trying to keep himself from falling behind.

Sonic picked up the pace as well. "First one to that tree over there wins, got it?" he asked, pointing in front of them.

"Got it!"

Knuckles tried to keep a steady pace as he headed towards the tree. He started to run a little faster as he got closer, intending to make a final sprint for it right at the end of the race.

Sonic tried to speed up further as they neared the tree; he didn't want an overwhelming victory, after all.

However, as Knuckles sprinted ahead and Sonic tried to follow, a sudden heavy sensation in the hedgehog's chest caused him to trip. By the time he'd looked up, Knuckles had already won.

"I...I lost..." he mumbled, staring down at the sand.

Knuckles quickly turned around, his victory immediately put out of his mind as his eyes widened in shock and concern.

"Are you okay, Sonic?" he asked, running over to the tiny hedgehog and getting down on one knee. "What happened?"

Sonic didn't answer, looking away with embarrassment. _I can't even win a lousy race like this?_

"Sonic..." Knuckles frowned sadly. "What's wrong, buddy?"

Sonic looked up at his friend, then sighed and stood up. "Nothing. I guess I just..." He averted his gaze, clearly ashamed. "...tripped."

"Aw..." Knuckles felt bad now. He'd been too focused on the race to even notice that his friend had been struggling. "You okay at least? Did you hurt anything? Do you need to take it easy?"

"Nah, I'm fine," Sonic insisted, waving a hand dismissively, then lightly touching his chest. "I just didn't stretch enough or something."

Knuckles noticed Sonic touching his chest. "Ya sure?"

"M-mhm..." Sonic replied.

_Man, why did just running wear me out so much? Ugh, I feel dizzy..._

"U-uh, Sonic...?" Knuckles was getting _very_ worried now. "Y-you're getting kinda pale..."

"I, uh..." Sonic sat down. "I-I probably just need a drink, I guess..."

"Here..." Knuckles gently scooped up Sonic in his large hands, holding him close. He slowly walked back to the shack, trying not to make Sonic's dizziness any worse.

Once they were inside, Knuckles set Sonic down on the table and grabbed the water bottle that was still sitting on it. He poured the water into the cap again and handed it to Sonic.

"Here ya go, buddy."

Sonic blushed at being tended to like this, but nodded and accepted the cap, taking a small drink. "T-thanks, Knux," he said, rubbing his head slightly.

"No problem." Knuckles smiled softly. "That help?"

"A-a little..." Sonic looked down at his communicator, but doubted it'd work due to the shrinkage. "Guess I can't call Tails," he mumbled.

"I can," Knuckles offered, pointing at his own communicator. "Is there something you need to ask him?"

"Just, uh..." Sonic blushed slightly, not wanting to admit it. "Why do I feel all weird all of a sudden?"

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked, tilting his head.

Sonic rubbed his head. "I don't feel right, y'know? I'm dizzy..."

Knuckles frowned in worry. "That doesn't sound good! I think we should call Tails; maybe he'll know what's going on."

"Y-yeah, maybe..." Sonic muttered, laying back on the table and staring at the ceiling.

Knuckles' worry was only increasing at this point.

"Be right back," he said softly, before stepping outside.

He pressed a button on his communicator. "Tails? You there?"

After a moment, a voice rang out on the other line. "Knuckles? Something wrong?"

"Y-yeah...Sonic says he's feeling really dizzy, and he looks kinda pale. Any idea what's going on?" Knuckles was trying his best to sound calm, but the worry in his voice was obvious.

"Hm... oh! I think that's because his immu--" The fox paused, knowing that Knuckles might not understand. "Er, I mean... his smaller body makes him more susceptible to sicknesses. He's probably just getting a little sick; if he ran, I imagined that it quickened the process."

"O-ohhhh..." Knuckles felt a little guilty now. "What should I do?"

We both know how stubborn he is about getting sick; just keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't move around too much. That shouldn't be a problem, I imagine, since you can carry him everywhere he wants to go."

"Okay. Thanks, Tails."

"No problem! Good luck!"  
There was a small click noise after that, the communicator clicking off.

Knuckles headed back inside.

"S-so, uh..." he chuckled nervously. "Y-you , _miiiiight_ be getting a little sick..."

Sonic sat up on alert. " _Me?_ SICK--" The sudden movement and speech caused him a small coughing fit. "...S-shut up," he muttered, covering his mouth.

Knuckles went over to him, frowning. "Just take it easy, buddy. I'll get ya anything you need."

"I-I don't get sick," Sonic argued, though he knew it was a lie.

Knuckles sighed. "Sonic, we both know that's not true."

"...I-I know," Sonic conceded, laying back down and sulking slightly. "Lemme guess; I'm gonna have to rest all day then, huh?"

Knuckles nodded. "You wanna get better, don't you?"

"Well, yeah, but..." Sonic crossed him arms, pouting like a child. "It's so _boring_."

"Well, how can we make it _not_ boring?" Knuckles asked.

Sonic whined a little, looking down at his hands. "Not like I can play games when I'm this dizzy..." He glanced over at the TV. "Y'wanna watch something?"

"Sure," Knuckles replied.  
"Here..."

He gently picked up Sonic again, then went and sat down by the TV, placing the tiny hedgehog on his shoulder as usual.  
He grabbed the remote and began flipping through the TV channels. "Just say if you see something you wanna watch, okay?"

"Uh, sure," Sonic said, trying to make himself comfortable on Knuckles' shoulder.

After a bit of scrolling, they found a channel they both liked and left it on, though Sonic slumped slightly against Knuckles, letting out a sigh.  
"...Sorry."

It really wasn't like him to apologize, but he seemed to be extremely apologetic as of late.

"For what?" Knuckles asked in confusion and concern.

"I don't like being all sick and... bother-y," he replied, a little dazed.

"Aw, you're not bothering me!" Knuckles replied, giving his friend a small smile. "'Sides, I like getting to hang out with you more," he added, blushing lightly.

"M-mm..." Sonic blushed slightly; he'd said it before, but it still made him a little flustered. _S-stupid Knuckles..._

"Thanks..." he mumbled, sliding his hand over a bit of Knuckles' fur in a petting motion.

Knuckles blushed at this. His tail wagged a little, showing his enjoyment.

Sonic noticed Knuckles' sudden lack of attention towards the show. "You all right, bud?" he asked, stopping his petting.

Knuckles' tail stopped wagging as well. "O-oh, yeah," he replied, a little embarrassed.

Sonic raised a brow, not quite believing him, but shrugged and went back to stroking. Maybe it was just the sickness talking, but the echidna's fur was so warm and soft...

Knuckles' tail instantly started wagging again. He blushed even more, wondering if Sonic would notice this time.

Sonic's ear twitched, hearing the sound of something hitting against the floor. He turned his head, looking down at the source. Was that from him...?

"...You can feel that?" Sonic asked with a blush, referring to his light stroking.

"M-mhmm..." Knuckles was flushing really badly now as his tail kept thumping on the floor. "H-hehe, sorry, m-my tail wags when someone does that..."

"O-oh, it's just..." Sonic chuckled weakly. "My hand's so small, I figured..." He felt embarrassed that he'd been caught petting Knuckles.

"It's okay," Knuckles assured him. "I-it...it feels nice, actually..." he admitted, smiling sheepishly.

"Oh yeah?" Sonic smirked a little, amused. "So this is the 'wag button' then?" he asked, proceeding to pet Knuckles' fur a little more vigorously.

Knuckles' tail responded even more strongly than before. His face was turning red as he became increasingly embarrassed and flustered.

"Y-yep, you found it," he chuckled weakly.

Sonic found Knuckles' behavior unusually adorable, but put it off as the sickness talking. His petting became an affectionate scratching. "Hehe..."

Knuckles let out a deep, rumbling sound, almost purr-like. His cheeks were now as red as the rest of him, but at the same time, he didn't want Sonic to stop. He rarely got this kind of affection, especially from Sonic, so this moment was very special to him.

Sonic giggled, intrigued by the 'purring'. "Why'd you never tell me about this?" he asked. "It's kinda fun!"

"W-well...I guess I was just kinda embarrassed, ya know?" Knuckles admitted sheepishly.

"And y'thought I'd tease ya for it?" Sonic questioned.

"M-maybe..." Knuckles murmured, turning his gaze sadly.

"...Eh, guess we're in the same boat then," Sonic muttered with a sigh. "So it's fair."

"H-huh? What do you mean?" Knuckles asked.

"W-well... when I got like this, I mean..." Sonic said. "I wasn't sure about showin' myself 'cause I thought you'd laugh at me."

"O-oh..." Knuckles frowned, his tail finally settling down. "But I didn't laugh at you, did I?" He smiled softly.

Sonic's ears perked, and he slowly smiled back. "Ah, no, I guess not. But... it's not funny?" He sat up and gestured to himself. "Those dumb-bots of Eggman's are like giants to me now! If Egghead called me a 'rat', he wouldn't be that far off!"

Knuckles just looked sad. "I...I guess it would be funny to me if I wasn't so worried...I-I mean, at that size, you could get squished like a bug or something! A-and I can't stand the idea of something happening to you, 'cause I lo--u-um, y-you're my best buddy and stuff, ehehe..."

Sonic blushed. "You're _that_ worried? I'm really your best bud?" he asked, eyes wide with surprise. "I just never took ya for the worried type, and we hang out a lot, but... s-still..."

"I-I guess I don't show it much, but I get _really_ worried when one of you guys gets hurt or something," Knuckles confessed. "E-especially you..." he whispered, his face flushing in embarrassment again.

"Seriously?" Sonic crawled closer to Knuckles' face. "Uh, so... are you afraid to hold me then?"

"W-well..." Knuckles paused to think for a moment. "Not exactly...I-I mean, I guess if there's no danger or anything I might trip over or whatever..."

"Aw, c'mon, Knux; y'shouldn't be scared at all!" Sonic said. "I might be small, but I'm still a tough 'hog!"

He leaned forward and fell from Knuckles' shoulder, knowing that he'd be caught; he wanted to be in Knuckles' hands for an example.

Knuckles let out a startled gasp, quickly moving both his hands to catch Sonic.

"S-Sonic, don't do that! I-I think my heart almost stopped..."

"Knux, I'm fine!" Sonic said, though slightly winded from the fall due to his sickness. "'Sides, y'should get comfortable with me if I'm gonna be like this for a while, right?"

"I-I guess so..." Knuckles didn't sound convinced.

"So c'mon! Move me around, squeeze me, lemme wrestle your one of your hands, something!" Sonic said with determination. "I'll prove it to you! I might not be _as_ strong, but I'm still wicked tough!"

"I...I dunno..." Knuckles said nervously.

Sonic would've given Knuckles a small spindashing if the idea didn't make him dizzy.

"Then...then I dunno..." He crossed his arms, pouting as he tried to think of something else Knuckles could do with him to help alleviate his worries.

Knuckles had a sudden idea. He hesitated at first, but then he shifted Sonic to be resting on just one palm, slowly reaching over with his free hand. Gently, he began to stroke Sonic's tiny head with his finger, handling him as if he was the most fragile thing in the world.

"K-Knuux, this isn't what I--" Sonic stiffened slightly, blushing and squirming under Knuckles' touch. "A-ah, not there. I'll--"

All of a sudden, he purred, relaxing to the light stroking.

Knuckles was surprised when he heard the purring, but it quickly brought a smile to his face. He continued petting Sonic, giggling childishly as he did so.

Sonic tried to ask Knuckles to stop, extremely embarrassed by the petting, but all that came out of his mouth were stammers. He whimpered, and eventually gave in, purring softly and letting Knuckles continue.

Knuckles just kept giggling. This was just too cute!

_It's like he's a really little kitten, he thought with a grin._

After roughly a few minutes, Sonic regained his composure, snapping back to reality and grabbing onto Knuckles' finger with his tiny hands. "Do I have to pay you for this?" he asked with a grin, continuing his joke from earlier.

"Nah," Knuckles chuckled, "this is just one of the perks of the Knuckles Express!"

"First the ride, now this?" Sonic asked. "You sure there aren't gonna be some hidden charges for me or something?"

"Nah, no way!" Knuckles replied. "Very special passengers get very special treatment!" he added with a wink.

"Heh, how special?" Sonic smirked, releasing Knuckles' finger.

Knuckles blushed. "H-hehe, _very_ special..."

Sonic blinked, wondering about the sudden softness in Knuckles' voice as he said that, but tried to pay it no mind. "Ah, anyway, I think we were watching something, weren't we?" He chuckled at how quickly they'd started doing something else.

"O-oh, right!"  
Knuckles looked at the screen. "Oh whoops, I think we missed the end of it," he laughed sheepishly.

"We did?" Sonic looked too. "H-heh, I don't even think I remember what we were watching..."

"Me neither," Knuckles replied.

"Guess we got a little too carried away with... other stuff," Sonic said, stroking Knuckles' hand for emphasis. "...Y-you won't tell anyone, by the way, right?"

Knuckles blushed again at Sonic touching his hand. "N-nah," he replied with a knowing grin. "This is just between us."

"Good. The news would be all over this," Sonic said. "Purring and tail wagging would be the _least_ of our troubles."

"What would be the _most_ of our troubles, then?" Knuckles asked.

"What ever the news would say about us!" Sonic replied, as if it was obvious.

Knuckles tilted his head in confusion. "I'm not sure I follow..."

Sonic chuckled at Knuckles' obliviousness. "Y'know? The fact that the two coolest guys on this entire island have dumb 'cuddle sessions' where they're petting each other and stuff?"

"O-oh...ohhhhh..." Knuckles' face went red as he realized what Sonic meant. He laughed nervously.

"W-wait," he said as another realization hit him. "You...you think I'm cool?"

"Hm?" Sonic tilted his head. "'Course I do. Why wouldn't I?"

Knuckles would've blushed again if his face didn't already look like a tomato. "I-I dunno, I just..." He lowered his voice a little, "...hearing that from you is just...kinda special, ya know?"

"Well, I mean, I know you're not the smartest guy in the world, but you can do a whole lot," Sonic said. "I think it's pretty impressive."

Knuckles was getting really flustered now. "T-th-thanks, h-hehe..."

"Just sayin' the truth!" Sonic said with a chuckle. "...Ngh." He flopped back down. "All this talking's making me exhausted..."

"Just take it easy, buddy," Knuckles said softly. "Take a nap if you need to. I'll be right here if ya need anything."

"A-all right," Sonic mumbled, relaxing a bit. He didn't seem perfectly content, but that was probably stubbornness talking.

Knuckles reached over and lightly scratched Sonic's head again, wondering if maybe it would help him relax better.

It did, Sonic purring a little and leaning towards Knuckles' touch. He didn't want to fall asleep, but it was getting very hard not to.

Knuckles smiled, continuing to pet Sonic. _Too cute..._

Sonic rolled over, his ears flicking up and down at the petting he was getting. "M-mmm, okay, just... remember to put the... hay in the apple... and eat the candle, mmnn..." he mumbled groggily before falling asleep.

Knuckles continued petting him for about a minute, then stopped. He grinned, now knowing exactly what to do to get Sonic to fall asleep.

\--

A while later, while Sonic was still sleeping, Tails walked in, carrying a small cup of strange liquid.

"Hey, Knuckles!" he exclaimed. He was about to greet Sonic, but noticed that he was sleeping. "Sorry it took me so long to check up, but I couldn't bring regular medicine; I was too worried about accidentally overdosing Sonic, y'know?"

Knuckles nodded. "So...do I need to wake him up now?" he asked softly.

"Nah. Let him sleep for a little longer," Tails said, giving Knuckles the special liquid. "Just give him about a bottle cap full of this every few hours. And I know he's gonna complain, but try to get him to deal with it, okay?"

"You can count on me!" Knuckles replied.

"Good luck!" Tails exclaimed, waving and leaving the shack.

Sonic awoke a few minutes later, sitting up and rubbing his head. "Mmm, is it morning yet?" he asked, slightly out of it.

Knuckles chuckled. "Actually, I think it's about evening now. You were asleep all afternoon!"

"Really?" Sonic glanced outside, frowning at the dark sky. "Eheh, guess I was sicker than I thought." _Or more relaxed by all that petting you were doing..._

"Oh yeah, speaking of..." Knuckles picked up the bottle that Tails had given him. "You gotta take your medicine now."

Instantly, Sonic's face soured. " _Medicine?_ Seriously?" He backed away in disapproval. "That stuff's probably disgusting!"

Knuckles sighed quietly, having expected this reaction. "Come on, don't you wanna get better?"

"W-well, yeah, but... at least gimme a chili dog to wash down the taste!" Sonic whined.

"U-uh...hmmm..." Knuckles put a hand to his chin in thought. How would Sonic even be able to eat a chili dog at his current tiny size?

Sonic frowned, knowing what Knuckles was thinking. "You don't think I can do it, can you?" he asked. "C'mon, bring me one! I'll prove it to ya!"

Knuckles still wasn't sure about it, but he _did_ want to get Sonic to take his medicine...

"So?" Sonic said, pouting like a child; he secretly didn't mind Knuckles' treatment of him, but he still wanted to feel like he had some choice and independence.

Knuckles just couldn't say "no" to that cute face. "O-oh, alright..."

"Awesome!" Sonic stood up quickly, but sat back down almost immediately. "W-whoa, moved too fast, ngh..."

"Just take it easy," Knuckles reminded him gently.

Sonic let out a small whine, then looked over to the doorway. "A-all right. You bring me a chili dog and I'll try to scarf down... _that_ , in the meantime," he said, making a face at the special medicine in Knuckles' hand.

Knuckles nodded. "Okay, that sounds fair."

Sonic held up the bottle cap, waiting for Knuckles to pour some medicine in.

Knuckles carefully tipped the bottle over, pouring a bit of medicine in until it was about full.

Sonic still didn't look happy, but knew he could deal with it. "All right, now hurry back, go it? No slow-mo delivery!"

"Okay, I'll be back in a bit," Knuckles assured him. He smirked. "But remember, no chili dog unless you take your medicine!"

"Yes, Mom," Sonic joked, smirking back.

Knuckles chuckled. He slowly stood up, walking over to the table and carefully setting Sonic down.

"I'll be right back, 'kay?"

Sonic nodded, watching Knuckles leave. He gazed down at the bottle cap, then quickly gulped it down. It wasn't the worst thing in the world, but he still gagged.

_Eugh, Knuckles better hurry back with that chili dog._

He paused, gazing longingly at the doorway again.

_...Kinda lonely without 'im._

Thankfully, Knuckles was back just a few minutes later, holding a chili dog.

"You take your medicine?" he asked, just to be sure.

"Yeah, yeah, I did," Sonic replied, waving a hand dismissively. "Now come on! Chili dog, stat!" he exclaimed, reaching out to the chili dog with little grabby hands.

Knuckles laughed. "Okay, okay!"

He went up to Sonic and held out the chili dog.

Once it was on the table, Sonic immediately began to dig in; or, at least, dig in the best that a hedgehog his size could. He didn't care how funny it might've looked.

Knuckles stifled a giggle. He actually found it kind of cute.

 _Somehow_ , as Sonic's love for chili dogs apparently couldn't be quelled, he managed to finish the entire thing. "See? I told ya!" he bragged, rubbing his stomach, clearly content despite having just eaten something that probably weighed more than he did.

Knuckles' eyes were wide in surprise. He was speechless, but impressed.

"Still got it!" Sonic exclaimed, sticking his tongue out playfully. "I never leave a chili dog unfinished!"

"H-how did you even...?" Knuckles shook his head. "Well, however you did that, it was awesome," he said with a laugh.

"I'm just awesome like that!" Sonic boasted, standing up and walking forward casually while puffing out his chest.

...Only to fall off the edge of the table.

Knuckles was quick to catch him.

"G-geez, don't scare me like that!" he gasped, clutching his chest with his free hand.

Sonic blushed. "I really need to stop doing that," he said with embarrassment, glancing up to where he'd fallen.

"Yeah, you're gonna give me a heart attack if ya keep doing that," Knuckles chuckled nervously.

"H-hehe, sorry, Knux. I'm a fall-prone hedgehog," Sonic joked, winking at him.

Knuckles laughed softly, despite his worried state. "Like that time when you kept falling into a well? H-heh, one time I even fell with you," he added, blushing as he remembered _how_ that had happened...

Sonic blushed too. "Y-yeah, I remember that." He grinned sheepishly. "Guess it's your turn to carry me now then!"

"H-hehe, I guess it is!" Knuckles replied, grinning back.

Sonic rubbed his head, then glanced back at the TV. "So... you were just watching TV the whole time I was sleeping?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Knuckles admitted.

"That didn't get boring? I must've been asleep for at _least_ a few hours..." Sonic mused.

"Nah," Knuckles replied, "it's hard to be bored when you're there." He flushed in embarrassment when he realized what he'd said.

_Oh geez, please don't think I'm weird..._

Sonic raised a brow. "Even though I was asleep?"

"Y-yeah, h-hehe..."

 _"You looked so cute the whole time,"_ Knuckles wanted to say, but he figured that would sound a little creepy.

Sonic didn't understand, but shrugged it it off and relaxed back on the echidna's hand. "At least the medicine's working a little; I don't wanna be stuck here bedridden for the next few days." He sighed. "It was bad enough when I was just small and not-sick."

Knuckles frowned, feeling bad for his friend.

"Well, I'm sure Tails will have something figured out soon," he assured him. Though deep down, he was starting to worry. What if Sonic got stuck like this for a really long time--or even worse, _forever?_

"Ugh, I hope so," Sonic said. "...I guess it isn't all bad though; I've got my own personal ride!" He managed a small grin.

Knuckles couldn't help but grin back. "Hehe, well, the Knuckles Express is always there for you!" He winked.

Sonic smiled softly; even though he Knuckles was just joking, it still touched his heart a little. "I'm glad; who knows what I woulda done if you weren't here when I got sick."

"Well, that's what friends are for," Knuckles replied softly, smiling.

"Yeah, guess so," Sonic said with a firm nod. "...Still not used to the whole 'friend' thing, so it slipped my mind, ehehe..."

"What do you mean?" Knuckles asked, tilting his head.

"Heh, well, y'know; how I was a loner for so long," he replied.

"Ohhh, right..." Knuckles replied. "Heh, it seems like such a long time ago since then..."

"Yeah, it does," Sonic mused. "...I kinda wonder sometimes what would've happened if I never met Tails and just kept bein' a loner instead."

Knuckles saddened thinking about that. "And I wonder where I'd be right now if I'd never met you..." he said with a shudder. He shook his head, not wanting to dwell on his past.

"Well, y'wouldn't be having to watch me right now," Sonic commented.

Knuckles frowned. "But I wouldn't be with my best buddy!" he replied. "H-heck, I wouldn't even _have_ a best buddy..."

"I-I guess," Sonic said, his cheeks slightly pink. "...Ugh, it's so weird of me to think like this. I hate being sick."

"It's okay," Knuckles said softly. "You're not being weird. 'Sides, you're tough, I'm sure you'll get better soon!"

Sonic smirked, encouraged by being called 'tough'. "Yeah, you're right!"

Suddenly, they heard an all-too-familiar sound outside.

"Oh _Soniiiiic_!" the voice of Eggman called out tauntingly. "You're late for our battle today! I'm guessing it's because you ran into a... _tiny_ problem yesterday?" He laughed evilly, amused by his own joke.

Sonic's ears jolted up. "E-Eggman..."

He tried to keep his cool, but backed away slightly, nearly falling off Knuckles' hand. He couldn't be shrunk again... r-right?

Knuckles gritted his teeth in anger. _Oh no you don't..._

"I'll take care of him," the echidna growled, clenching his fist.

Sonic looked up at him, surprised at the sudden anger in his tone. "K-Knux?" he stammered, startled.

Knuckles set Sonic down on the table. "Stay here," he said sternly, but gently. "I don't want you to get hurt."

Sonic nodded. "O-okay." _Geez, he really does care, doesn't he?_

Knuckles ran outside, immediately getting into a battle stance.

"Where's your _little_ friend?" Eggman asked with an evil grin. "Was he...a _little_ too scared to come out and face me?"

"I won't let you go anywhere near Sonic!" Knuckles snapped. "And stop it with the puns, that's me and Sonic's job! Besides, they weren't even that funny anyway."

Eggman growled angrily. "Robots, _attack_!" he yelled.

And with that, the fight began.

Sonic felt extremely tempted to go out there and fight himself, but knew he'd be next to useless. He sighed, then suddenly heard one of Eggman's robots coming in.

_U-uh oh!_

In just a few minutes, Knuckles had completely trashed all of Eggman's robots.

"I'll be back, just you wait!" Eggman growled. Then he was off.

Knuckles ran back into the shack--and froze when he saw one of Eggman's robots in there.

"H-hey, how'd you get in here?!"

He picked up the robot and threw it outside, smirking as it broke on into pieces on the ground.

"Whew, that was clo--uh, Sonic?" Knuckles realized with a pang of worry that his friend wasn't where he'd left him. "S-Sonic...where are you?"

 _O-oh no...what if that robot got him?_ The echidna gasped. _Oh no, what if the robot still had him when I smashed it?! Oh no, what if...?!?_

"Sonic!" he shouted frantically. " _Sonic! SONIC!_ "

He searched all over the shack, but there was no sign of his friend anywhere. He was starting to tear up now.

"No no no no no..." he fell to his knees, already beginning to cry. "I-I'm sorry...I-I should've done a better job protecting you..."

"Knux?" a voice suddenly called out. It was from Sonic, who walked into the shack with a concerned look. "I had to run from one of Egghead's bots to hide. You okay?"

"S-Sonic?"

Knuckles suddenly scooped up Sonic in his hands, tears of overwhelming relief streaming down his face.

"S-Sonic, you're okay! I-I thought something happened to you, a-and I-I..." He was starting to sob now, shaking horribly. He'd thought for sure that he'd lost the one who was the most precious to him.

Sonic saddened, shocked at how emotional Knuckles was getting. "Y-yeah, I'm okay. G-geez, I was only gone for a little bit, bud..."

"S-sorry," Knuckles sniffled, feeling a little sheepish. "I-I just...i-if something _did_ happen to you, I-I don't know w-what I'd do..."

Sonic frowned, reaching up and wiping away Knuckles' large tears as best as he could. "I-it's all right, Knux. The point is that I'm fine, see?" he asked, gesturing to himself.

Knuckles nodded. "Y-yeah. I-I'm just glad you're okay." He managed to crack a small smile.

"...Guess I really worried ya, huh?" He knew he didn't have to ask; seeing Knuckles' tears was enough.

"M-mhmm," Knuckles answered, his voice cracking slightly.

Sonic was silent for a moment, then sighed, sitting down on Knuckles' hands. "Sorry..."

"A-aw, it's okay," Knuckles replied. "N-not your fault, buddy."

"I just hate being small!" Sonic suddenly said in an outburst. "You worry about me and I'm so helpless and..." He rubbed his head nervously. "What if I'm stuck like this...?"

Knuckles' head drooped. "I...I don't know..." he admitted quietly.

Sonic laid back and groaned. "I guess I never thought about it, but what if I wanna date someday? I can still be my cool self, but..." He averted his gaze and saddened. "Who would want me to be their boyfriend when I'm like _this?_ "  
He wasn't used to all the self-conscious things he was saying, but he felt like they were true.

"I-I would!" Knuckles blurted out.

His face flushed badly when he realized what he'd just admitted. In panic, he started to ramble very quickly, "Oh-my-gosh-I'm-so-sorry-I-didn't-mean-to-say-that-please-don't-think-I'm-weird-oh-no..."

Sonic was suddenly speechless, staring up at Knuckles with wide eyes. "W-wait, no, go back... what now?" he asked, blushing.

Knuckles tried to respond, but all he could manage was nervous stuttering.

Sonic tried again. "Knux...?"

Knuckles swallowed hard. His entire body was shaking as he spoke.

"I-I w-would. I-I would d-date you, S-Sonic."

Sonic nearly felt his heart stop. "S-seriously?" he asked. "Even like this?" He gestured to himself for emphasis.

Knuckles nodded nervously. His face was still all red from embarrassment.

Sonic paused, absorbing the situation, then smiled sheepishly. "Heh... I'd date you too."

Knuckles' eyes went wide in surprise. "W-what, r-r-really?"

Sonic looked down, blushing slightly, but nodded his head.

"I-I..." Knuckles was speechless. His crush...liked him back?

Sonic stared back up at him, then smirked, noticing is stunned expression. "C'mon, Knux, don't leave me hangin'! Say something!"

"S-sorry!" Knuckles said quickly. "I just...you...you actually like me back?"

"Do I need to repeat myself?" Sonic asked with a grin, amused at how he was the less flustered one despite the obvious size difference. "Thought we talked about this before, heh; I think you're really cool!" His blushed intensified slightly as he rubbed the back of his head. "J-just didn't realize _how_ cool 'ntil I shrunk and we hung out a bit more..."

Knuckles was still blushing badly. "Y-you're really cool t-too," he replied with a small smile. "T-to be honest, I-I've kinda always liked y-you..."

Sonic chuckled, trying to hide a bit of his flusteredness."W-well, naturally! Everyone likes me!" He tried to sound boastful about it, but it came off as more sheepish and adorable.

Knuckles giggled softly. Sonic was just too cute!

"...S-so, uh..." Sonic looked away slightly. "Do we... hug, or something?"

"O-oh, uh..." Knuckles thought about it for a moment. "I-I don't really know how any of this works," he admitted sheepishly.

"Me neither," Sonic admitted. "D-don't tell anyone, but I've never been on a date before..."

"Really?" Knuckles seemed surprised by this.

Sonic nodded, standing up. "Y-yeah. I act like a lady killer all the time, but I never had one myself. I thought about Amy at one point, but she's too..." He grinned weakly. "Amy, for me."

Knuckles chuckled lightly, understanding what Sonic meant.

"Yeah, I've never had a girlfriend either...And then I realized that I liked guys too--especially a certain one," he winked at Sonic, "but I was too scared to admit it, so I tried to be a 'ladies' man' so that people would think I only liked girls..."

He glanced away sheepishly. "In fact, you're the only person I've ever talked to about it."

"Well, you don't have to hide it from me; especially anymore!" Sonic exclaimed with a small laugh.

Knuckles smiled. "It feels nice to finally tell somebody about it."

Sonic nodded. "Hehe, glad I finally told you too." He paused, thinking over what Knuckles said, then grinned. "Does that mean I'm your weakness?" he asked, putting his hands on him hips and puffing out his chest.

"W-what do y-you mean?" Knuckles stammered.

Sonic's smirked wider. "You can't resist me!" he exclaimed.

Knuckles blushed. "H-heh, y-you got me there..."

Sonic giggled, knowing that he had the 'upper hand'. He gazed at Knuckles for a moment, then smiled mischievously and started climbing up his arm.

"W-what are you doing?" Knuckles asked, a bit confused.

Sonic didn't answer, getting onto Knuckles' shoulder. He leaned over, then gave Knuckles a soft kiss on the cheek.

Knuckles blushed heavily. He tried to speak, but he could only make high-pitched whimpering sounds.

Sonic laughed cheerfully. "I didn't know your skin could turn so red!"

"I-I didn't either," Knuckles managed to squeak out.

Sonic blushed too, but he hoped Knuckles wouldn't catch it; gosh, this echidna was cute, giant or not.

"Well, better get used to it, Knux! You're my boyfriend now, right?"

Knuckles smiled wide. He opened his mouth to respond, but all that came out was high-pitched gibberish. He could barely believe that this was really finally happening!

Sonic giggled in amusement; Knuckles couldn't even talk!

Still, now he was kinda curious. If such a small kiss affected Knuckles... but still, asking for a kiss was embarrassing and he didn't want to be obvious about it.

"Can't imagine how flustered one from a normal-sized me would make you turn!"

"I-I can't either," Knuckles chuckled sheepishly. "H-heh, I think I'd pass out..."

"Aww, heh." Sonic sat down on Knuckles' shoulder, relaxing slightly. "...So, wanna go on a date once Tails gets a cure ready for me?" he asked.

"I-I'd love to!" Knuckles replied happily, his eyes practically sparkling.

But then he frowned worriedly. "B-but...what if he doesn't...?" he asked very quietly.

Sonic grew quiet at that; he'd thought about that too. "Well... I'd still kinda like to go anyway," he said sheepishly. "As long as you don't mind hanging out with a smallhog like me...?"

Knuckles smiled affectionately. "I wouldn't mind at all."

Sonic tried hard not to blush, but his muzzle still turned a deep red. He was just so touched; Knuckles didn't care either way?

"But I _do_ hope that Tails will figure it out--I'd like to be able to hug you," Knuckles added, blushing again.

Sonic chuckled. "Yeah... technically, y'still can. Just... gently and awkwardly, I guess."

"Yeah..."

Knuckles thought for a moment, then got a mischievous grin. "I could also do this..."

Without warning, he planted a light kiss on the tiny hedgehog's head.

Instantly, Sonic froze in place, his ears perking up. At first, there was no response, but then he suddenly turned an intense shade of red.

"You okay, Sonic?" Knuckles asked with a laugh. "You're even redder than me now!"

"W-w-wha--" Sonic blushed further, embarrassed to have been caught as red as Knuckles. "I, uh--!" He shook his head, then attempted to crawl between Knuckles' dreadlocks to hide himself.

Knuckles giggled. Seeing Sonic this flustered was just too adorable!

Sonic squirmed slightly, though knowing that Knuckles could probably pull him out whenever he wanted. "I-I think I-I like it here! N-not leavin'!" he stammered, hating to be seen with such a red face.

Knuckles giggled even more. "Aww..."

After a few moments, Sonic felt his blush cool down, and he went back to Knuckles' shoulder. "...D-don't do that again," he mumbled sheepishly.

Knuckles pouted cutely. "Awww, but _you're_ allowed to kiss _me_!"

"No, I don't _mean_ it--" Sonic blurted out, blushing again. _Great, now I gotta be the flustered one..._

Knuckles giggled again. He just couldn't stop!

Sonic flopped down on Knuckles' shoulder, covering his face. "Aaaaugh, is it time for bed yet?" he asked, wanting the embarrassment to be over.

Knuckles looked outside. "Huh...it's getting a little dark out...time really does fly! But where...?"

"I dunno; into the sky?" Sonic joked, pointing upwards.

"Hmmm..." Knuckles seemed to actually consider it. "Maybe..." He shrugged.

Sonic chuckled; Knuckles' obliviousness was too cute. "Anyway, how about we rest on the hammock tonight?" he suggested.

"Sounds good to me!" Knuckles replied with a smile.

"I think I'll get nice n' comfy right there," Sonic said, pointing at Knuckles' chest. They were dating now, so he figured he shouldn't have to be shy about sleep on Knuckles now.

Knuckles blushed, smiling even wider. He carefully lay himself down on Sonic's hammock, letting Sonic lay on top of his chest.

"How's that for a pillow?" he asked with a grin.

Sonic grinned, getting comfy just like he'd said. "Warm; _real_ warm. A good warm." He paused a moment to think, then shrugged. "You _sure_ I don't have to pay you?"

Knuckles laughed. "Nah, don't worry about it!"

"Ah, too bad," Sonic said with a smirk, scratching his cheek. "I never said I would've paid you with money."

"What would've you paid me with, then?" Knuckles asked curiously.

"Nevermind, time for bed!" Sonic replied with a bit of deviousness in his tone, waving to him.

"Okaaaay..." Knuckles was confused, but he soon found that his eyelids were getting heavy. "G-goodnight..."

"Night."

Sonic grinned, perching himself up slightly right after he saw Knuckles' eyes close. He waited a few minutes, until he was sure enough the Knuckles was asleep, then crawled up to Knuckles' muzzle. Maybe it was just the aftermath of him being sick, but he was feeling extremely playful.

He hesitated, then gave Knuckles a kiss, right on the lips, despite how slightly awkward it was. His plan was to make Knuckles super red and then tease him about it later, since he was asleep 'for sure' and wouldn't be conscious enough to kiss back.

Or at least, so he thought.

Knuckles' face went completely red upon feeling Sonic kissing him. He'd only pretended to go to sleep, thinking that Sonic must've been up to something. This, however, was not what he'd expected his "payment" to be--not that he was complaining, though.

After the echidna had a chance to collect himself, he kissed back.

Sonic let out an uncharacteristic squeaking sound at Knuckles kissing back. He even turned just as red as him, if not more so.

"M-mm." _Well, there goes my plan..._

Knuckles grinned inwardly at Sonic's reaction. _Hehe, gotcha!_

Sonic pulled away, crossing his arms. "No fair. You were faking it!" he said, averting his gaze in hopes of hiding his blush.

Knuckles giggled. "Surprised?"

"S-shut up," Sonic replied with a pout, leaning against Knuckles' mouth.

"Hey, you're the one who kissed me," Knuckles replied with a laugh. "I was just returning the favor."

"But I had this whole plan and everything!" Sonic argued, walking back to where he'd been laying down before. "That's it, our relationship is over, go home," he teased, sitting down and sticking his tongue out.

"B-but I don't have a home..." Knuckles said quietly.

Sonic tried to remain serious for the sake of the joke, but can't help chuckling. "Don't lie to me, Knux."

"W-what do you mean?" Knuckles asked, confused.

"You _do_ have a home," Sonic replied, gesturing to the shack around him. "It's right here." _Ugh, that sounded way less cheesy in my head, eheh..._

Knuckles' eyes went wide. "Y-you mean...?"

Sonic blushed, but nodded. "'Course I do. What's mine is yours."

Knuckles found himself tearing up. He smiled. "I-I...I don't know what to say!" he said with a sniffle.

Sonic smiled, laying down and looking over at his boyfriend. "I can think of one thing you can say! As long as I don't say it first..."

"What's that?" Knuckles asked, tilting his head.

Sonic opened his mouth to say something, but quickly shut it, blushing red. "U-uh..."

"You okay?" Knuckles asked. He wondered what it was that Sonic wanted him to say that made him blush so badly.

Sonic let out a small whimper, then buried his face into Knuckles' chest, mumbling something.

"Er...what was that?" Knuckles raised a brow. "Sorry, didn't catch that..."

Sonic's ear twitched, and he spoke a little louder, though his face was still buried in Knuckles' fur; a slightly more audible, though muffled "I love you".

Knuckles' face flushed for what must've been the 50th time by now.

"I...I love you too," he squeaked.

Sonic perked back up and looked over at him, smiling softly and letting out a very un-manly giggle. He then yawned, curling up slightly on Knuckles' chest. "Kinda chilly," he murmured.

"Don't worry, I'll keep ya warm and cozy," Knuckles said softly, smiling.

"Heh, good." Sonic lightly scratched his nose. "Think you're gonna miss this if Tails finds a cure?" he asked.

"Maybe just a little," Knuckles admitted with a chuckle. "But it would be nice for things to go back to normal. Then I could hug you lots and we could do all the stuff that we usually do!"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, for sure." He yawned a little. "But for now, sleep." He nuzzled against Knuckles' chest, then slowly drifted off to sleep.

Knuckles giggled. Sonic just looked so cute like that!

He sighed contentedly as he drifted off, his tiny boyfriend already asleep on his chest.

\--

Sonic remained asleep all the way up until morning, when Knuckles' communicator started going off. He groaned, rolling over and clamping his ears shut. "K-Knuuux, get it..." he slurred out slightly, trying desperately to go back to sleep.

Knuckles' eyes fluttered open. He groaned as well, but complied and answered the call.

"H-hello?" he said sleepily.

"Knuckles?" Tails called from the other line. "Uhh, sorry. Did I wake you?"

"I-it's fine," Knuckles mumbled. "What's up?"

"I think I've completed the cure for Sonic's shrinkage!"

Knuckles was now wide awake. "Really? Hey Sonic, ya hear tha--oh, he's still sleeping."

"Just get him here whenever you can and I can grow him back to normal!"

Just then, an idea popped into Knuckles' head. "Or...I could bring him over now, and then when he wakes up he'll be normal again. It'd be a surprise then!"

"That'd work! You'd just have to keep him asleep."

Knuckles grinned. "Leave it to me!"

The call ended after that, with Sonic still sound asleep against Knuckles, having gone back to it after the earlier ringing stopped.

Knuckles slowly got up, careful not to wake the little hedgehog. He went outside and began to head for Tails' lab, holding Sonic in his hands.

Sonic moved around slightly in Knuckles' arm, feeling himself being moved. "M-mm..."

 _Wait, no, don't wake up yet!_  
Knuckles reacted quickly. He began lightly scratching Sonic's head, trying to get the hedgehog to relax again.

Sonic's quills stiffened at the sudden scratching, but he quickly relaxed, cuddling against Knuckles' arm and remaining asleep, purring softly.

Knuckles smiled, finding this adorable.

_Hehe, there we go._

After a few minutes, Knuckles made it to Tails' lab.

"All right, just set him there," Tails said, pointing to a large platform on the floor.

Knuckles nodded. He bent down and gently set Sonic down on the platform.

Tails set up his machine, watching the sleeping hedgehog closely, then turned it on. There was a few small shocks from the platform that caused Sonic to twitch, but he didn't wake up.

His body seemed to shake for a second, until he suddenly grew back to his normal size, though still snoozing soundly.

Knuckles smiled wide. Even at his normal size, Sonic still looked adorable.

Knuckles bent down again, gently sitting Sonic up. He wrapped his arms around the hedgehog and held him close, nuzzling him affectionately.

The nuzzling caused Sonic to stir, and he let out a small yawn. "H-huh?"

His eyes widen as he looked at Knuckles, quickly noticing his change in perspective. "Knuckles? What...?"

"Surprise!" Knuckles said with a grin.

"W-wait, I..." Sonic pulled away and looked down at himself. "I'm normal-sized again?"

"Yep!" Knuckles confirmed. "Tails figured it out! I wanted it to be a surprise though, so I had him do it while you were still sleeping."

"So... this is for real?" It took Sonic a moment, but he suddenly lit up, nearly tackling Knuckles into a kiss.

Knuckles let out an "mmph!" of surprise, but then quickly relaxed. Sonic kissing him had felt amazing before, but it was definitely even better now that the hedgehog was his normal size again.

Sonic resumed the kiss, but suddenly pulled away as he remembered the now-red fox in the room. "T-Tails, uh..." He cleared his throat. "Thanks..."

"N-no problem, Sonic," Tails stammered, quickly going back to his machines.

Sonic blushed, then grabbed Knuckles' hand and led him out.

"S-so, uh...y-you wanna go on that date?" Knuckles asked.

"Y-yeah!" Sonic answered without hesitation. "Whenever you want, hehe!"

Knuckles smiled excitedly. "How 'bout a breakfast date? Do people do those?"

"Even if they don't, doesn't mean we can't," Sonic replied.

"So, breakfast date then?"

"Yes, breakfast date," Sonic confirmed.

And so, the two raced off, with Sonic secretly being glad about the whole experience; he might not've gotten to confess to Knuckles otherwise.


	2. Alternate Ending

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Surprise!
> 
> Hehe, we recently wrote an alternate ending for this story. I decided that, instead of making it a separate fic, I'm just gonna add it onto the original. Hope that doesn't cause any confusion...
> 
> Anyways, hope you enjoy!

Sonic remained asleep all the way up until morning, when Knuckles' communicator started going off. He groaned, rolling over and clamping his ears shut.

"K-Knuuux, get it..." he slurred out slightly, trying desperately to go back to sleep.

Knuckles' eyes fluttered open. He groaned as well, but complied and answered the call.

"H-hello?" he said sleepily.

"K-Knuckles?" Tails said from the other line, his voice hesitant. "Did I wake you? I-I'm sorry, I... didn't know you were still asleep..."

"It's okay," Knuckles assurred him. "What's up?"

"Ah, well... I have some news about Sonic's situation, and I figured it'd be better if he heard it from you..." Tails responded.

Knuckles was worried by Tails' tone of voice. "O-okay, what is it?"

"...M-mgh, well... I don't know how to tell you this, Knuckles, but..."

There was a small sigh on the other end of the call. "It's not as easy to grow things as it is to shrink them. If I attempted to grow Sonic back, it wouldn't fix him. His body would become distorted and brittle; it wouldn't be pretty.

"So... tell Sonic I'm really sorry, but there's just... no way for him to grow back to normal."

Knuckles' heart sank as he processed Tails' words. "A-are...are you absolutely sure there's no way?" he asked quietly.

"I tried multiple theories and tests, but... no, nothing. I'm guessing that was Eggman's plan all along, knowing that I would get Sonic's hopes up, only to have to crush them..."

Knuckles sighed sadly. "O-okay...I-I'll tell him."

"Good luck..." The communicator made a beeping noise to indicate that Tails had hung up.

Sonic was still snuggled against Knuckles' chest, blissfully unaware of the conversation that had just taken place.

Knuckles was quiet for a while, letting Sonic sleep on. He almost dreaded the hedgehog waking up, knowing that he'd have to break his heart once he did.

To say he wasn't looking forward to it would've been a major understatement.

\--

It wasn't long - probably too soon for Knuckles - before Sonic started to wake up. He stretched, then looked up to Knuckles, seeing that he was already awake.

"Mm? What's up, bud?" he asked with a small smile. "You look so serious..."

Knuckles hesitated nervously, wondering how he was going to break the news.

"W-well...y-you see, u-um...T-Tails called earlier..."

"Oh?" Sonic lit up for a second, but quickly realized Knuckles' tone, his expression falling back down. 

"...And?"

Knuckles took a deep breath. His gaze was averted; he couldn't bring himself to look Sonic in the eye while telling him.

"...h-he said there's nothing he can do. I...I'm so sorry..."

"...Oh," was all Sonic said in response.  
He paused, his face completely emotionless, then he dropped his gaze downwards, staring at his tiny hands.

"...I-I'm sorry..." Knuckles said again. He wished there was something he could do.

"Y-you've got nothin' to be sorry for..." Sonic muttered. "It's all on me. I knew it was a trap, but I went ahead anyway." He placed a hand to his head in frustration. "You must think I'm a total bonehead..."

"You're _not_ a bonehead, Sonic."

Knuckles gently hugged--or at least, tried his best to hug--Sonic, careful not to hurt him.

"None of us saw this coming. P-please don't blame yourself..."

Sonic sighed, burying his face into Knuckles' fur. After a long pause, he looked up at him.

"H-heh, at least y'still love me... right?" he asked, the smallest of smiles on his face as he attempted to cheer himself up.

Knuckles smiled warmly. "Do you even have to ask?"

Sonic blushed. "N-no, guess not, heh..."

He leaned against Knuckles again, staring up at the ceiling. "But now I don't know what I'm supposed to do. I can't let the villagers see me like this! I'll be a laughing stock!"

His face went red in embarrassment at the sheer thought. "But I don't want them to think I've gone missing either..."

"Hmmm..." Knuckles wasn't sure what to do either.

After a moment of thought, he smirked. "Well, if they make fun of ya, I'll give them one of my specialty 'fist sandwiches' on the house."

"Heh, I know," Sonic said with a smile. "...Just wish I could deliver it myself."

Knuckles went quiet for a bit, not sure what else to say.

"...Hungry?" Sonic asked after about a minute of silence.

"...Yeah. Are you?"

"A little," Sonic admitted. "We might be able to go to Meh Burger, but... only if we had some way to hide me."

"You sure you want to do that?" Knuckles asked.

"I can't exactly stay here for the rest of my life, can I?" Sonic asked in reply.

"Yeah, that's true. So...what's the plan, then?"

Sonic thought for a moment on it. "Hm... well, y'know those menus that no one ever uses anyway? We could open one and stand it up; I could hid behind that..."

"But what if someone's standing on the other side?" Knuckles pointed out.

"Then I'll just have to hide fast enough," Sonic said.

"Well...alright. I'm sure you know what you're doing!" Knuckles winked.

Sonic nodded, though secretly, even he wasn't so sure about his plan; he trusted Knuckles to keep him safe though.

"Shall we, then?" Knuckles said with a smile.

"H-heh, yeah, let's go!" Sonic exclaimed. "...Oh, but it's probably a good idea to put me somewhere where no one'll see me."

Quickly realizing that Knuckles didn't have a place like that, Sonic looked around the room and pointed to a belt bag lying on the table. "Tails got me that recently, but we can use that. Just let the bag hang at your side and I'll chill there."

Knuckles nodded. He wasted no time in putting the belt on.

Sonic jumped onto the bag, being a very good jumper at his size due to his lightweight, then opened the biggest pocket and climbed in, poking his head out at the echidna. "I'm getting so many free rides on the Knuckles Express. You spoil me, bud," he teased cutely.

Knuckles couldn't help but grin at him. "Ready to go?"

Sonic nodded, then sunk lower into the bag to relax. Slowly, the reality of the situation was weighing on him, but he tried not to think about it; he didn't want to worry his boyfriend, after all.

"Then let's go!"

And with that, Knuckles walked outside of the shack, heading in the direction of Meh Burger.

\--

Sonic began to hear the voices of the villagers, taking a slight look from the belt bag. He was careful, not wanting to be seen, so he quickly ducked back inside.

 _I thought that maybe they wouldn't look so big since I'm used to Knux by now, but... nope, still big,_ he thought to himself nervously.

Knuckles went ahead and ordered their food, not even needing to ask what Sonic wanted.

Sonic instantly smelled the chili dog that Knuckles had bought for him, though resisted temptation of popping out until the time was right.

Once they were seated at a table, Knuckles grabbed a menu and stood it up.

"Whenever you're ready," he whispered with a smile.

Sonic smiled, then jumped out from the bag and onto the table.

"Thanks, Knux!" he exclaimed, pulling off a small piece of the bun and nibbling on it.

"Mmph, I wonder how dangerous falls really are to me," he suddenly said. "I mean, not gonna test it, but I can jump really high, so maybe it wouldn't really hurt since I'm so lightweight?"

Knuckles shrugged. "Hopefully we won't have to find out," he chuckled nervously, before biting into his burger.

Sonic blushed a little, touched by how worried Knuckles got for him. "Heh, no worries. I know you'd catch me if I fell anyway."

The tiny hedgehog's ear twitched as he heard someone approaching the table, and he quickly jumped back inside the belt bag to conceal himself.

A female mobian walked up to Knuckles, leaning on his shoulder slightly and giving him a small wink. "Hi there, handsome."

"U-um...hi?" Knuckles replied nervously.

She giggled. "What's a strong guy like you doing eating here alone?"

Sonic crossed his arms from inside the belt bag, feeling jealous. Inwardly, he wanted to heckle the girl - Knuckles was his, after all - but he tried to keep himself under control to prevent himself from being seen.

"I-I'm not alo--" Knuckles stopped himself when he realized his slip-up.

_Oops..._

"Of course you're not, I'm here after all!" she exclaimed, not catching onto Knuckles' implications; then again, what sane person _would?_

She sat down next to him, giving Sonic a chance to get a good look at her. He had to admit; she wasn't half-bad looking.

"I'm guessing you remember me? I'm one of the girls you saved a few days ago during one of Eggman's attacks."

"O-oh...?"

_OhmanhowdoIgetoutofthis?!_

Sonic mentally resented Knuckles' capacity for kindness, wishing he would just send the girl away already, but still, that was one of the things he loved about him, so he just silently sulked and hoped for it to be over soon.

He got his wish, but not in the way he wanted. The sound of a laser went off and a nearby table was destroyed, Eggman showing up in his Egg Mobile.

"Come on now, I arrive and I get no welcome party? Where's all you villagers' sense of hospitality?"

He went straight-faced. "No, seriously, I thought we talked about this. I even told you I'd be here today. Anyway..."

He pressed another couple buttons on his Egg Mobile, zapping another table and summoning one of his giant robots to begin laying waste to the town.

The girl at Knuckles' side quickly fled in terror, though Sonic wasn't sure if he should've been relieved or not, given the circumstances.

"Eggman!"

Knuckles stood up, ready to fight. He felt a burning anger build up inside of him as he remembered what Eggman had done to Sonic. He wasn't about to let him get away with that.

Eggman turned to Knuckles with a grin. "Ah, _Snubbles_ , how unpleasant it is to see you again!"

"That's _'Knuckles'_ , you eggheaded blowhard," Sonic muttered in resentment, needing all his self-control so not to attack Eggman right then and there.

Eggman's eyes darted curiously down to the belt bag Knuckles was wearing, managing to recall that the echidna didn't usually wear one. A sly grin came to his face, and he quickly zapped the side of the belt bag, Sonic falling out from the shock of the sudden impact. A metal arm emerged from the Egg Mobile, snatching the hedgehog up and bringing him back to Eggman, well out of Knuckles' range.

"Sonic!" Knuckles gasped in shock and worry.

Then his face became one of pure rage.

"You put him down _right now,_ Eggface!" he shouted.

The doctor smirked, ignoring Knuckles and snatching up the tiny hedgehog. Sonic squirmed, clearly uncomfortable; Knuckles was extremely gentle with him, but Eggman was anything but.

"Hello there, rodent. Enjoying my gift?" he asked.

"No! It sucks, like _you!_ " Sonic shot back in retort, unable to hold himself back from insulting the man. "You're gonna be Egg _dead_ by the time I'm done with you!"

Eggman only laughed at the hedgehog, then turned him around and held him out so that all the villagers could see him.  
"Do you hear that? Your little hero thinks he can compete with me like this! Isn't that laughable?"

The villagers just stared at Sonic, some in confusion, some in shock at what Eggman had the ability to do.

Eggman cleared his throat, pressing a button on his machine, causing his large robot to whip out cannons from its arms. "I said, _isn't that laughable?_ "

The villagers were quick to break out into laughter. It was forced, but it didn't matter to Sonic. He felt humiliated, curling in on himself and shielding his face.

Knuckles was actually _shaking_ from his rage now. His fists were clenched so tightly that it hurt, but he didn't seem to notice. When he spoke again, his voice had taken on a deeper, almost scary tone.

"Put. Him. _DOWN._ "

Eggman jerked his head over to Knuckles, a little shocked at the echidna's sudden rage-driven tone, but tried to keep his cool.

"As you wish!"

He immediately dropped Sonic, letting the hedgehog plummet to the ground.

Knuckles gasped in shock, but reacted quickly. He dove forward, not sure if he'd be able to catch Sonic in time, but he had to at least try.

Sonic, thankfully, landed in Knuckles' hands safely. He gazed at the echidna, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears, but he quickly averted his gaze, getting up and running off in a streak of blue light. He just wanted to get away from the village as fast as possible.

Knuckles stared sadly in the direction that Sonic had gone. Then he stood back up, and glared at Eggman again.

"If you ever even _THINK_ about hurting him again..."  
The way his eyes flashed said enough.

"Oh, be still," Eggman said, waving a hand dismissively. "Serves him right for falling for my trap so easily, no?" He grinned, ignoring the echidna and going back to terrorizing the town; he didn't find Knuckles to be a huge threat on his own.

That turned out to be what was probably the biggest mistake of his life--because that was the moment when Knuckles finally _snapped_.

Knuckles wasn't even sure what happened in those few moments; it was all a blur to him. One thing he knew, he could hear himself screaming incoherently, and the next, he had apparently trashed Eggman's robot and hurled the remaining scrap pile right at Eggman himself.

Eggman and his Egg Mobile had gone flying from the harsh throw, and Amy, Sticks, and Tails arrived on the scene, shocked at the display Knuckles had just shown.

"U-um..." Tails stuttered. "I-I mean, we heard the commotion and came to help but... it looks like you didn't need it..."

"Oh, you know, just had to take out some trash..." Knuckles muttered, still calming down from his explosion.

Sticks walked up to him, then pointed in the direction Sonic had gone. "I think he might be going towards the canyon if you want to...?"

"Thanks, Sticks."

Without another word, Knuckles ran off towards the canyon.

\--

It wasn't easy finding Sonic, given his size and the largeness of the canyon. Still, because he was blue while nothing else in the canyon was, Knuckles found him within a decent amount of time.

He was curled up, shielding his face again, small sobbing sounds coming out of him.

Knuckles rushed over to him, gently scooping up the tiny hedgehog in his arms and holding him close.

"Shhh, it's okay..." he soothed.

Sonic stiffened at being picked up so suddenly and only relaxed slightly upon realizing who it was.

"K-Knux..."

Knuckles smiled sadly. "Hey."

Sonic looked away, embarrassed to be seen this way.

"...M-maybe this was a bad idea."

"What was?"

He was hesitant. "...Us."

Knuckles was shocked, and rather hurt by that. "What?! What do you mean?"

Sonic shook his head, trying to show that it's not what he meant.

"I-I can't even hug you like _normal_ mobians can! You saw how easily Eggman grabbed me; I'm useless as a team member! B-besides, I know how much you love kids, b-but like we could even..."

His buried his face back into Knuckles' fur, hating that he was showing how self-conscious he could really be. "...like we could even adopt. Any kid would just make fun of me too. I'm just a paperweight..."

"D-don't say that!" Knuckles exclaimed in surprise. "I-I know things are different now, and it's probably not gonna be easy...b-but the thing is, I...I love you. I love you so much, and I don't care what size you are or whatever--you're still the same guy that I fell in love with."

He thought for a moment, then smiled. "And as for kids...yeah, it might be a little strange for them at first, but to be honest--and I'm talking from experience here--I think they'd just be glad to have a new family that loves them."

Sonic looked up at him in surprise, a few tears still visible on his face.

"I-I love you too..." He looked down sheepishly. "You... really think they'd like me?"

"Of course they would!" Knuckles replied as if the answer was obvious.

Sonic blushed, hiding his face into Knuckles' fur. "M-mrr, Knux..."  
_He's the only mobian on the planet who can make me all flustered like this._

Knuckles giggled, lightly nuzzling his boyfriend. "I love you," he said again.

Sonic blushed more, making incoherent squeaking noises. "I-I love you too..."

"So...feeling any better?" Knuckles asked.

He nodded, trying to relax. "A-a little..." He stared up at him. "Can you carry me home...?"

Knuckles smiled. "Sure!"

Sonic sighed softly, nuzzling Knuckles' chest. "I got lost easy; hard to remember where I can go when everything's so big..."

"Well, that's what the Knuckles Express is here for," Knuckles replied with a wink.

"Mmm..." Sonic climbed up Knuckles' chest, giving him a soft kiss. "You're a lot more than that, Knux."

Knuckles blushed heavily, giggling softly.

Sonic relaxed back on the echidna's hand. "I guess that's one cool thing; you carryin' me like this."

"So you don't mind it then?"

"No, I mind, but..." He smiled sheepishly. "You're really comfy is all."

Knuckles chuckled. "Well that's good."

"I just wish you didn't have to be afraid of hurting me," he complained. "I love that you're so worried for me, but.."

"I sometimes worried even before this happened," Knuckles confessed sheepishly. "Sometimes I'd have to restrain myself from punching whoever tried to hurt you into next Tuesday!" he added with a chuckle.

"Yeah, that sounds like you," Sonic said with a small smile. "I guess better me than you to be small like this."

"Even if it'd been me, I'd still punch anyone who dared to try anything!" Knuckles replied. He wasn't joking in the slightest.

Sonic laughed. "You'd be adorable. Bet I wouldn't be able to take my hands off of ya!"

Knuckles blushed. "A-adorable, h-huh?"

"Yup," Sonic said in a teasing tone.

"H-heh..." Knuckles blushed even further. "Guess I'm not so cute at this size though, huh?" he added with a laugh.

"Mmm..." Sonic blushed at the question, lightly petting a pat of Knuckles' fur, "doesn't really matter what size you are. You're still pretty handsome to me."

Knuckles didn't think it was possible to be any more flustered, but he was proven wrong. "A-aw, th-thanks, hehe..."

Sonic giggled, then tried to relax again; Knuckles' fur continued to be soft and comforting.

"Wonder what I'm gonna do now..." He gripped a patch of Knuckles' fur. "Not sure if I wanna step foot into the village again. Maybe it'd be better if I just become a stay-at-home hedgehog."

"Ya sure?" Knuckles asked. "I mean, I understand, but you shouldn't have to never go anywhere again..."

"W-well, maybe not stay-at-home forever, but..." He sighed wearily, not wanting to think back to his experience. "Not back to the village at least, for a long time..."

Knuckles sighed sadly, but he understood. "Alright, I won't force ya."

He smiled softly. "But...if you ever want to try again, I'll make sure nobody makes fun of you or anything."

"Mm, don't worry, I know," Sonic said. "Just need to let the memory pass a little." He almost teared up again, not wanting to remember.

"A-anyway, so... you don't mind staying with me forever? I know you said you liked being outside, but you're still welcome at my house. Plus... I could obviously use it..."

Knuckles' smile widened. "Forever and ever!"

Sonic blushed, but smiled and relaxed slightly against him. "Heh, I love you, y'know that?"

Knuckles blushed too. "H-hehe, I love you too."

The two then headed back to their house, remaining confident in their relationship despite Sonic's permanent size change; they'd work it out somehow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun fact: While I wrote Eggman's parts in the original story, my RP buddy temporarily took over the role for this alternate ending. (It made the interaction between him and Knux easier to write in this instance.)


End file.
